About our parishes

History of st. mary's of the fort church, fort covington

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary's at Fort Covington incorporated March 25, 1840, with Father McNulty of Hogansburgh presiding, and with William Leahy and Patrick Holden of Fort Covington and Michael Collins of Bombay as trustees, though the records of the church itself list the trustees as Wm. Leahy, Wm. McKenna, Michael Caldwell, James Fitzgerald, Michael Murphy, Hugh Laffey and Austin McDonald, and fix the date of organization and of the erection of the church edifice as 1837. Became an independent charge

Excerpt from a book on the History of Fort Covington, New York:

History of Fort Covington, New York HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FRANKLIN COUNTY AND ITS SEVERAL TOWNS BY: FREDERICK J. SEAVER PUBLISHED BY J. B. LYON COMPANY, ALBANY, NY 1918

'Quoting in abbreviated form from Rev. John Talbot Smith's history of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, Cornelius, Patrick and Michael Thneen came to Fort Covington in 1822 from Ireland, and were soon followed by other Irishmen and Catholics until the number seemed in 1826 to warrant attention by Rev. Father Moore of Huntingdon, Que., who visited the place and said mass at the hotel. At rare intervals thereafter during the next few years Father Moore or some other priest continued such visits, but mostly the Catholics of the place enjoyed their own church privileges only by journeying, always on foot, to St. Regis or Hogansburgh. Rev. Father McNulty of Hogansburgh organized St. Mary's Church at Fort Covington in 1837, and a church building was erected -the entire male Catholic population turning out for the work. For the next thirty-two years the parish was attended from Hogansburgh. The church edifice was completed through the efforts of Rev. James Keveney, and it was not until 1869 that the parish became an independent one, comprising one hundred and seventy families, with a resident rector. A parochial residence was bought at a cost of three thousand dollars, and a little later the church was given a new roof at about an equal expenditure. During the rectorship of Rev. Father Charles J. McMorrow, in 1883, a new cemetery was purchased, and under Rev. Father James McGowan the church was improved - a new floor laid, new pews put in, a tower added and the interior generally beautified. Father McGowan contributed two thousand dollars from his own means to the work, and also gave a bell."

St. Mary's of the Fort Church continues to this day in worship and ministering to 246 families.

history of st. joseph's church, bombay

Excerpt from the book on the History of Bombay, New York:

History of Bombay, New York HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FRANKLIN COUNTY AND ITS SEVERAL TOWNS BY: FREDERICK J. SEAVER PUBLISHED BY J. B. LYON COMPANY, ALBANY, NY 1918

"St. Joseph's Church, Bombay, incorporated July 15, 1905, with William H. Doonan and William H. McKenna as lay trustees. Church edifice was erected in 1905. Became an independent charge in 1912; previously served irregularly by priests from Fort Covington. Rector, James E. Duffy, 1912-18. Trustees for 1918: David Cavanagh and William Duemars.

Notwithstanding the number of Roman Catholics in the eastern part of the town had not been inconsiderable from early times, their privilege of worship according to the rites of their faith until recent years, except as mass was said irregularly and infrequently in the hotel or at a private residence, was enjoyed only by journeying to Fort Covington or Hogansburgh. About 1905, however, services began to be held at Bombay with some approach to regularity by priests from Fort Covington, and were so continued until 1912, when the Church ceased to be a mission, and was given a resident rector, the Rev. James E. Duffy, who continued in charge until 1918, when he became a chaplain in the army. A church building was erected in 1905, and is clear of debt. A rectory was built in 1913.

St. Joseph's Church continues to this day in worship and ministering to 170 families.

history of st. patrick's church, hogansburg

(st. patrick's church is now closed)

The Church of St. Patrick at Hogansburgh, founded in 1827, but not incorporated until November 7, 1834, with James Murphy, David O'Neil, Patrick Fecley, Lantry Adams, John Kerren and John Haminill as lay trustees. The church was served until 1834 by priests from St. Regis; church edifice begun in 1827. Rectors: John McNulty, 1834 to 1841; James Keveny, 1843-51; Thomas Keveny, 1851-55; Maurice Sheehan, 1855-59; Thomas McGinn, 1859-62; J. DeLucH. 1862-69; Thomas E. Walsh, 1869-78; William S. Kelly, 1878; Thomas Walsh, 1878; Michael J. Brown, from 1878 until his death in 1917;
Hugh O'Reilly, 1917-18. Trustees for 1918: Thomas J. Lantry and Albert Brennan. Hogansburgh included originally all Catholic charges between Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain.

Excerpt from the book on the History of St. Patrick's Church, Hogansburg, New York:

History of Hogansburg, New YorkFROM: HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF FRANKLIN COUNTY AND ITS SEVERAL TOWNS BY: FREDERICK J. SEAVER PUBLISHED BY J. B. LYON COMPANY, ALBANY, NY 1918

The Roman Catholic Church at Hogansburgh was founded in 1827, soon after a visit to the, place by Bishop Dubois of New York, of which diocese it was then a part. The bishop's counsel to the people of his faith there was given at a meeting held in a barn, and proceedings for building a church edifice and for incorporation of a church society followed in due course. Incorporation was had by residents of Bombay, Brasher and Fort Oovington,. November 7, 1834, as the "Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick at Hogansburgh," and the first trustees, besides the bishop of the diocese and two men from Brasher, were David O'Neil and James Murphy of Bombay and Patrick Feely and Lantry Adams of Hogansburgh. The meeting for incorporating was held at Mr. Feeley's house, and the certificate recites that, a chapel being then in course of construction, steps were taken at the meeting to assure its early completion. Between 1827 and 1833 or 1834 services were held only irregularly, and were conducted by priests from neighboring localities, but mainly by Rev. Father Marcoux, the rector of the Roman Catholic Church for the Indians at St. Regis. In 1829 or 1830 Bishop Dubois again visited the parishes in his see in Franklin county, journeying by sledge drawn by dogs, and stifi again in 1835, when he was accompanied by Rev. Father Hughes, who afterward became archbishop. Upon his return to New York from one or the other of these later visits, probably the first of them, he assigned Rev. John McNulty to the Hogansburgh charge. Some authorities place the beginning of this rectorship in 1833, and others in 1836. Hogansburgh was the mother church of the Romish faith in Franklin county, and it included as parts of its parish Massena, Fort Covington, Brasher, Brushton, Trout River, C6nstable, Malone, Chateaugay and Cherubusco. Father McNulty was a man of ftne presence and broad attainments, and an indefatigable worker. The church edifice at Hogansburgh, which he found unfinished, was completed during his rectorship, and the work of organizing churches throughout the district was prosecuted with great energy.
After the departure of Father McNulty the church at Hogansburgh was without a settled rector until 1843, the people having been attended in. the interval by the priest at St. Regis and by Father Moore of Huntingdon, Que. Since then it has had rectors of its own continuously. The original church edifice was of stone, and served the needs of the parish until 1876, when a new structure was erected, which was burned in 1905. A year later it was replaced by a handsome brick edifice, finely finished within, and costing about fifty thousand dollars. The original church building was given over in 1878 to the uses of a convent school until 1880. From 1880 to August, 1915, when its roof and. interior were burned, it was used as a parochial hail. Rev. Father Michael J. Brown, a Malone boy, who was a student at Franklin Academy fifty years ago, became the rector of St. Patrick's in 1879, and' so continued until his death in 1917.

In 1849 all of its then several charges except Massena, Brasher, Fort Covington and Constable were set off from it, becoming independent parishes, or included in the then newly created district of Malone. The exceptions noted are now independent also.

It was with great sadness that St. Patrick's Church in Hogansburg has closed with their final closing mass on July 7, 2013.